Facebook ‘blocks’ adblockers

New York: In a move seen in favour of publishers, social media giant Facebook on Tuesday introduced a technology by which the advertisements on the platform would bypass the adblockers on desktop browsers making it harder for people to avoid seeing them.

The Menlo Park-headquartered company has also asked its users to identify which ads they do not like to allow the firm to collect in-depth information for marketers. Facebook commissioned a research to investigate why 70 million Americans and nearly 200 million people worldwide use adblockers, Tech Crunch reported.

According to the report, the main reasons cited for using ad blockers include avoiding disruptive ads (69 per cent), ads that slow down their browsing experience (58 per cent) and security/malware risks (56 per cent).

“So Facebook thinks if it can make its ads non-interruptive, fast, and secure, people would not mind,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Adblock Plus, a leading adblocking company, responded to Facebook’s action.

In a blog post titled, “Oh well, looks like Facebook just got all anti-user”, the company said, “This is an unfortunate move, because it takes a dark path against user choice. But it’s also no reason to overreact: cat-and-mouse games in tech have been around as long as spammers have tried to circumvent spam filters.”

Bosworth said that the advertising industry needs to improve in the way ads are delivered. “I don’t think adblockers are a very good solution. They specifically don’t serve publishers will, who deserve to be compensated for their content. But they don’t serve customers well either,” he said.

The adblockers take money for showing ads, which mean they don’t have the consumers’ best interest in mind,” he noted.

IANS